Synopsis
Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love—she’s lived through it twenty-six times. She crushes hard and crushes often, but always in secret. Because no matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful.Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly’s totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie’s new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. Will is funny and flirtatious and just might be perfect crush material. Maybe more than crush material. And if Molly can win him over, she’ll get her first kiss and she’ll get her twin back.
There’s only one problem: Molly’s coworker Reid. He’s an awkward Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there’s absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right?
- Goodreads.com
Review
Molly is a serial crusher. There’s always a
guy that she’s crushing on, but she’s always too scared to take it any further. Her
anxiety and self-image, along with the fear of rejection are holding her back. After her sister Cassie gets a serious girlfriend, Molly feels like she’s
being left behind. Luckily for her, a cute boy (or 2) happen to pop into her
universe, but will she strike up the courage to take it beyond just a crush?
I really liked Molly,
she had a realistic voice that speaks for a lot of people, whether they are
teenagers now going through the same worries and stress or like me, older and
remember how hard navigating the ‘romances’ of teenage life were. I remember
dealing with the same anxieties and issues with my body and confidence that she does and it held
me back at times and not just in regards to romantic relationships.
This book oozes
diversity, representing many facets of the LGBT community, and not just as a
main characters but as everyday supporting roles aswell. Not only that, but we were given diversity in culture and religion as well, and not to mention a main character
who doesn’t fit the ‘ideal stereotype’ of body image that the media likes to
force upon us.
The relationship
between Molly and her sister is strong, but you can see the cracks in their
friendship as Cassie becomes more and more invested in her new girlfriend. As
an only child I can’t relate much to this but I do understand that relationships
are ever changing and that sometimes the tightness of those bonds break over
years. Sometimes I thought Cassie was a bit of a B*tch to Molly. But I also
kind of get it too. When she gets with her new girlfriend; Mina, everyone else
ceases to exist. I know we all hate to be that person who as soon as we get in
a relationship ignores everyone around us, but we can’t deny that most of us
have been that person at one point or another. It’s the exciting part of the
relationship where all you want to do is spend time with the other person. So I
can’t begrudge her that.
Patty and
Nadine, are pretty freaking cool parents. I love books that show the
parent/teen relationship. There is nothing worse that absent parents in a YA
novel, because we all know most parents are unbearably involved in your life at
that age. They are both relaxed with Cassie and Molly, but aren’t afraid to lay
down the law when it’s required.
Overall, a great
summer read that I flew through easily. This was a great follow up from Miss
Albertalli’s debut ‘Simon Vs. The Homosapien Agenda’.
My Rating 5/5
Great review! I liked this book, too. I was a chubby teenager, so I would have loved this book to be around when I was in high school. I could really relate to Molly.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!